


The One Who Is All

by GothamRogue81



Series: Scenes from Gotham City [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bat Family, Batfamily Feels, Cassandra Cain is Black Bat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:57:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5396834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothamRogue81/pseuds/GothamRogue81
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The past comes back to haunt Cassandra Cain</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Who Is All

They knew she would come. She wouldn’t be able to resist. They had discussed it when they put their plan into motion months before. Lady Shiva and David Cain had created Cassandra Cain, and together they would break her. For years, they had separately followed the media, watching their daughter become The Black Bat. Protecting Gotham like a wooden sword, knowing that behind the exterior, she was, in fact, a razor sharp blade able to cut through anything in its way. 

All of their plans and efforts had been squandered. She was meant to be one of the League Of Assassins’ most deadly weapons, and instead, she was one of The Batman’s minions who followed in her adopted father’s “no-killing” moral standards. 

And of course, there was the adoption. Bruce had taken it upon himself to adopt her as his own daughter. David was especially jaded by that. The audacity that his former student had to think he could do something like that and get away with it.

Shiva, on the other hand, had faced her daughter before. She was the first to realize that Cassandra held back when fighting. She could have killed her several times, but she had such control that she only used the necessary strength and effort to subdue her mother without taking her life.

So over the last year, the two had begun to communicate and a plot against Batman had formed. They would force their daughter to kill, one way or another, and if she refused, they would kill her together. Either outcome would end in breaking Batman down enough to expose weakness and do what so many others who had tried before them were unable to do: Kill the Batman.

They had lured their daughter into play with a week-long game of cat-and-mouse. They had begun to pick off victims two at a time. Gordon and the GCPD had been trying to piece together clues, but there was little evidence left behind, and the only connection that any of the murders had was that they were all were only children whose parents were either never married, or were divorced.

******************************************************************************

It wasn’t until Oracle had been going over the crime scene photos with a few of the Bat-Kids that Cassandra had noticed the hands of the victims. “Oracle, can you put those on the monitor in chronological order?” she asked. Oracle put them on the main screen and lined them up side by side. 

“This is meant for me!” Cassandra gasped. 

Stephanie stood behind her and put her hand on her shoulder. “What do you mean for you?”

Tears formed in Cassandra’s eyes. “Their hands are posed,” she said.

On the screen Barbara and Stephanie focused on the hands of the four victims. The hands had been posed into letters in sign language. O-N-E-W-H-O-I-S. “One Who Is what? How is that you?” Stephanie asked. 

“The One Who Is All,” Barbara said. “It’s what the League of Assassins had meant her to be when she was born,”

“They’re calling me out,” she said.

“My Grandfather?” Damian asked. 

“We have to tell Bruce,” Stephanie said.

“No! No telling father!” Damian said angrily. “I’ll handle this matter myself! My mother and grandfather are not welcome in my city.”

“No Damian,” Barbara said, shaking her head and turning around. “No one is going alone on this one,” she said.

“This is my responsibility,” Cassandra said. “But I agree with Damian, we shouldn’t tell my father about this,” she said.

“Cassandra, she needs to know if Ra’s in Gotham,” Stephanie said.

Barbara turned in her chair. “If Ra’s or Talia were in Gotham, Bruce would know already,” she said.

“Either way,” Cassandra said, flipping her mask down onto her face. “I’m going to find who’s doing this and find out what they want with me.”

***************************************************************************************

And now, David Cain and Lady Shiva stood side by side in the parking lot of the Gotham Royal Hotel where The Black Bat had cornered them after a chase through the hotel. The two exchanged looks and Shiva laughed. “I told you our little girl would find us before we could finish sending our message,” she said.

“Smarter than I thought you were Cassandra. Or should I say, Black Bat?” David said. Out of his suit sleeve slid a katana. Shiva had unsheathed two blades of her own. 

“What do you two want?” she asked. Keeping her blades of choice sheathed at her belt. 

“You, my love, just you,” her mother said. 

Cain casually walked to the side, lengthening the distance between he and Shiva. “We want you to come home to the League and be who you were born to be.”

“Your father and I,” Shiva started, but Black Bat cut her off before she could finish.

“He’s NOT my father!” she yelled. “And you’re not my mother! My father is the only parent I’ve ever had, and he’s more of a parent than either of you will ever be!”

Cain clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. “I liked you better when you didn’t speak!” he yelled and rushed her.

She unsheathed the blades at her side and swung them up to block his attack. Shiva came from behind and she guarded the strike before spinning and flipping to the side, leaving her parents in front of her. “You will not break me, no matter how hard you try!” she said. 

Cain launched his blade straight at her through the air. But as it flew like a dart towards her, it was struck and knocked off pattern and to the ground by a baterang. Cain looked to the   
direction it came and saw Robin crouched on the top of a minivan, glaring at him.

A whizz sounded through the air and Shiva’s sword was yanked away by a grappling hook. She watched it zip backwards and into the hands of Batgirl who stood off to the opposite side.

“You have one chance to leave Gotham and crawl back to my Ra's al Ghul!” Robin growled, doing his best Batman impression. 

“You both need to leave!” Black Bat said. “This is between me and them.”

Robin hopped off the van and walked over to her, Batgirl joining them as well. “We are family, and we stand by you, no matter who threatens,” he said, removing the bow-staff on his back and holding it at the ready.

“Your new ‘family’ certainly doesn’t what they’re up against, do they?” Shiva asked.

“It seems her old ‘family’ doesn’t know what THEY’RE up against,” Robin said, spinning the staff around and crouching ready to strike. 

The two adults laughed. Cain dropped to one knee, hurling a throwing star towards Robin, snagging him in the shoulder. He winced, stumbling back and Batgirl charged without thinking. 

Black Bat tried to stop her, but it was too late. Shiva was on her and was landing a flurry of strikes and kicks on the girl before she knew what was coming.

Black Bat and Robin charged and entered combat with the two, as Batgirl collapsed to the ground holding her face and side. Robin flipped backwards and landed a kick to Shiva’s jaw, knocking her backwards as Black Bat exchanged strikes and blocked attempted strikes against her biological father.

Shiva swung around with a second blade. The sound of metal clashing rang out as Black Bat’s blade blocked her mother’s sword from meeting Robin’s throat, two inches away. Robin’s eyes went wide and Black Bat flashed a look of hatred. She lashed out and sword met sword once more as the two exchanged spinning strikes against one another. 

Cain tried to get involved, but Robin tripped him up and he and Batgirl tackled him, double teaming him while Black Bat fought Shiva. After dancing for several minutes, Black Bat gained the upper hand, and caught Shiva on her knees. She stood above her with her sword resting on the back of her neck. Just one pull of force would be enough to sever Shiva’s head, but she froze   
when she saw Shiva smirk. 

She glanced over and saw that Cain had knocked Robin backwards and now had Batgirl by the throat, holding a knife to her throat. “Do it Cassandra!” He demanded her. “Kill her and join me!” Batgirl struggled, and Cain ripped her mask and hood back exposing her face. 

Cassandra froze, trembling slightly. She saw the fear in Stephanie’s eyes as Cain shook her roughly and tightened his grip when Robin approached. Shiva looked up at her daughter. “You know he’ll do it Cassandra. Kill me and take your rightful place. It’s time!”

She looked back and forth from Stephanie, to Damian, to Shiva and to Cain. “I’ll never be like you!” she yelled. She raised the sword above her head, pushing her mother to the ground. “And do you know why?” she asked.

“Why’s that precious?” Cain said condescendingly.

She smiled, pausing. “Because I’m like my Dad!” She kicked Shiva away and watched as Batman grabbed Cain spinning him around and surprised him with a forearm to the side of the head. 

Cain was knocked out immediately. Batman let him drop to the ground and stepped forward slowly.

He looked down at Shiva. “You made a mistake coming back to Gotham,” he said. He continued walking towards her as Robin helped Stephanie up from her knees where she had dropped during the scuffle.

Cassandra stood beside him. She pulled her mask up and watched as Shiva scrambled back and to her feet. “You made a bigger mistake threatening my children.” 

Shiva turned to escape but was met with a head-butt from Stephanie. “Bitch,” she muttered. As Shiva collapsed to the ground, the girls entered Batman’s arms.  
He gave them a squeeze as Damian walked over. Cassandra reached over and pulled him into the embrace, kissing his forehead. He immediately wiped at it, making a disgusted look. Cassandra smiled and gave a sigh of relief. 

Batman released them and looked down at Shiva, and over at Cain. He grinned. “Mask’s up kids. You’ve got trash to deliver to Gordon.”

***********************************************************************************************

It had taken a long time for Cassandra Cain to overcome her inner demons and leave her past behind her. She had come from being a lethal, mute killing-machine, to a peaceful, intelligent and loving girl who was dangerous, but had also adopted her new father’s code of never taking a life. Bruce had always been proud of her, and after the incident with her birth parents that night, he reminded her again.

He found her curled up reading a book in the study at just after 2am. He had come up through from the cave after hanging up the cape and cowl for the night. “You’re still awake?” he asked as he closed the wall’s hidden passage behind him.

“Yeah, I couldn’t fall asleep,” she said, closing the book and looking up at him. “So Barbara told you, I suppose?” she asked him.

“Of course she did,” he laughed, “just like you would have told me if she was in trouble.”

She crossed her arms. “I wasn’t in trouble,” she said. She paused for a moment while there was silence between them. “I wouldn’t have killed Shiva. You know that, right?” she asked. “I mean, even if you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have let them win, and I still wouldn’t have let them hurt Steph.” She looked at him with a serious look.

“I know that,” he said with a smile.

“I could have taken them both on by myself without anyone’s help,” she said, opening the book again.

He walked towards the hallway and stopped at the couch behind her, leaning over her. He brushed her hair out of the way and kissed her forehead. “That’s the point honey,” he said. “Even if you can handle it on your own, you’ll never have to.”

He walked away. “Don’t stay up too much longer,” he said.

“I won’t,” she said.

“I love you Cass,” he said as he walked out.

She smiled and got up scurrying after him. She jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. “I love you too Dad!”

She may have been born from the union of too violent and evil people, but she was in the comfort of Wayne Manor now, and she had a father who adored her as his own. She may not need the physical protection but Bruce and the Wayne Boys offered her the chance of happiness and were as close to being normal as she would ever get to be, and she would never take that for granted.


End file.
